You might have seen the blog post I made just yesterday about Tully, Hannah and Jake, the fun-loving labradors whose parents own a fabulous fishing boat! The three happy pups are occasionally spoiled with a trip out on the Destin harbor, which they adore, and this time I was privileged to tag along.

But I neglected to mention something in yesterday’s post: we had visitors out in the water. And while their fins at first caused visions of sharks to flash in my head (ohmygodwearegonnadieohmygod), it turns out these creatures were only here to play. And being a pet photographer just got a little more awesome. Take a look.

 There were so many of them; we estimated at least a couple of family pods.

 See the shadow at the bottom-center of the image? That’s another one!

I should note: I barely post-processed these photos at all. Isn’t the water color gorgeous?

They were actually riding our wake! It looked like fun…

Now you see why I thought “sharks”!

 And then – someone decided to try and swim with the dolphins! Tully jumped out of the boat before we could stop him!

You know, this is why (okay, among many other reasons) I love my job. Susan and Chris (Tully, Hannah & Jake’s parents) were randomly-drawn contest winners; I had no idea we’d have such an exciting session! It’s funny, really, because just the other day I was doing finances and (as any visual, creative photographer-type would) bemoaning the existence of so many numbers. This was such a good reminder for me that little things can’t get us down when there’s so much happiness and serendipity just waiting for us out there! Not to mention dolphins! Susan and Chris, thank you. Again.

Moral I’m going to take from this day: the unexpected can be beautiful, so embrace whatever it is you do, and be ready to be surprised.

~   Dog Photography by Allison Shamrell in Ft. Walton Beach, Florida   ~

Tags: beach, contest, Destin, dolphins, Florida, Fort Walton Beach, on the job, pet photography, pets, surprise